Normal 'til the end
by Smartguyuk1
Summary: Fry normal? This can mean only one thing: The end of the universe.  This is my first story and is a work in progress. All reviews welcome. All ideas welcome. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

It is late at night in New New York and the city that never sleeps has, for the most part, gone to sleep. Under the cover of darkness a small shadow creeps through a little known ally behind the Planet Express Delivery Company building. It navigates its way round a series of unfinished experiments and badly damaged doomsday devices and stops dead.

Ahead it can see a figure rising from a dumpster. Knowing that it had been seen the shadow draws its Instasnooze 5000 pistol and moves out into the dull glow of the moon light.

"Ah my good friend Nibbler. Perhaps you care to join me in this dumpster maybe? We could tell ghost stories why not?" it said putting a torch to his face making it even more hideous, if that were at all possible.

Nibbler put his pistol away. He had been hoping to get to his ship and leave earth without anyone noticing. Usually he did this for no other reason but to create an air of mystery. He had learnt a long time ago that it helped maintain his cuteness influence over the stupid humans. That, and Leela would always feed him a 'where did you go, I missed you' ham when he inevitably returned.

This time, however, it was different. He had been summoned by the Nibblonian council and was to inform no one of his departure. The message had been sent by hyperpigeon which was worrying as his people possessed the ability to communicate over long distances through telepathy. Nibbler had tried to send his reply in this manner but had received no acknowledgement and he had eaten the hyperpigeon shortly after reading the message.

He looked at the lobster creature in front of him. Although Zoidberg's mind was as fickle as his head was brittle he was extremely difficult to hypnotize, and there seemed no other choice.

"Doctor Zoidberg what are you doing here? I thought the professor let you back in at night," he said hoping he could lead the odd crustacean into a pattern of thought that would allow him to access his mind.

Nibbler pretended to listen to his reply as he probed the alien lobsters mind looking for a weakness. Zoidberg's mental discipline wasn't so much like a 'solid wall' as it was a 'thick goo'. Every time Nibbler thought he found a weak point the 'goo' would reshape itself and lock him out.

"...so I removed the dorsal fin and all was well again," Zoidberg finished. He looked at Nibbler expectantly.

"Erm, yes sounds very unreasonable," Nibbler managed to say, pulling away from his mind. He thought of taking Zoidberg with him but quickly dismissed this idea as depressing, besides he wouldn't fit in his ship. He felt he had no other choice. He grabbed his pistol and set it from 'light nap' to 'permanent coma' and was about to deactivate the safety when it suddenly occurred to him.

"Tell me, did they feed you before they threw you out?"

The moment Zoidberg thought of food his mind opened up like a walnut under a hammer and all his thoughts were free for Nibbler to alter or simply remove at will.

He put Zoidberg into a deep sleep and erased any memory he had of him that night. He then implanted a fake memory involving a half eaten bag of potato chips and an unopened bottle of beer. There was really no need for him to do this of course, he just felt sorry for him. Besides, what harm could it do?

With Zoidberg now fast asleep in his dumpster he continued down the alley until he came to another dumpster. In the past it had been easy to hide his little ship, all he had had to do was put a couple of newspaper sheets over it. Now that his identity was not so secret he had found it necessary to increase security, especially with Bender around.

Nibbler entered a code onto an invisible control panel and took a few steps back. The five inch thick titanium dumpster unfolded itself in an unnecessary elaborate fashion revealing a small blue interstellar space ship with several bits of paper stuck to it.

Somewhat confused he removed the bits of paper and inspected them. They were parking tickets. Nibbler rolled all three of his eyes, threw the tickets to the ground and got into his ship.

"I think I'll go back to using the newspaper," he mumbled to himself as he activated the launch controls and blasted through a cloud of insects and into space.

Once in orbit Nibbler directed his telepathic energy towards the earth. He could sense the millions of beings that inhabit her and quickly scanned through them hoping to find something unusual. Everything seeming normal he moved them to one side and scanned deeper into the fabric of the earth. As he did so he noticed something, a faint consciousness.

He concentrated but, no matter what he tried he couldn't bring the consciousness into focus. Then, without warning and for the briefest of moments, Nibbler was flooded by the darkest emotions he had ever sensed. Anger, bitterness, frustration, hate. None of these words, alone or combined, seemed strong enough to describe what he had felt.

By the time he was able to think of anything else he was already well out of the Sol system. Wondering how he got there he realised he must have subconsciously hit the thrust control, that would explain why he was heading in the wrong direction at any rate.

He entered a new course into his ships navigation computer, ensuring it wouldn't take him too near the earth, and activated the autopilot. As the ship increased speed Nibbler turned his thoughts to his home world. He tried once again to send a message telepathically and once again he received no reply. Nibbler was now certain of one thing; he would feel a lot better once he was back home.


	2. Chapter 2

Fry awoke up to find himself confused and disoriented. This alone was normal and nothing to worry about. What did worry him, however, was that he felt particularly weak, not to mention his right arm hurt like hell.

He turned over and looked at his arm. It was badly bruised. Not sure how this had happened he stared at it hoping it would jog his memory. Nothing.

He looked round the post apocalyptic tip he found himself laying in and was pleased to see that he had, at least, woken up in his own room. He focused on his surrounding for a few moments longer and, content that everything was in its place and that he was on his own, tried to turn his attention back to his arm.

Slowly Fry's memory, realising that it was needed and that its time was longer its own, began to cough up images of the previous night. He recalled it had been pay day and he had finally found a way and/or reason to stop Bender steeling it although his memory still refused to give up specific details. He also remembered arguing with Bender about it, making up, getting drunk, and then for some reason visiting a blood bank and...

He put his arm down.

Fry got out of bed and instantly regretted it. This was like no hangover he had ever experienced before but he was sure the cure was going to be the same. He grabbed a can of Blue Minotaur and another of Slurm from under his bed and poured them both into a clean glass. He then dropped a straw into the mixture and, seeing that it failed to move or suddenly evolve into a sentient being (he wasn't going to go through that again), removed the straw and downed the sweet liquid in one go. He passed out.

Half an hour later he opened his eyes and lifted himself off the floor. He felt a lot stronger and his mind had cleared enough for him to realise he was in his underpants, even though he had no memory of getting undressed the night before.

He searched high and low for his clothes but it quickly became apparent that Bender had probably sold them by now, along with any bodily fluids that had been drained out of him. Fry could see no other choice; he would have to wear something other than a white T-shirt and blue jeans to work today.

He began looking through a pile of what he suspected may be clothes and found something better, a full can of all purpose spray. Amy had given him a couple when they were dating, but he had never rotten round to using them. He closed his eyes and sprayed himself all over.

After the mist had settled he looked at himself in the mirror. He had to admit he like what he saw. Sensible black shoes, dark blue jeans, white T-shirt and a black jacket. Not too much of a change but enough to make him feel smart. He almost wished he'd had a shower beforehand but unfortunately the shower refused work after Bender had taken it on a 'date' and never returned its calls.

Something began to bother Fry regarding the mess he was surrounded in, it made him feel uncomfortable. The dank smell that filled his nostrils wasn't doing much for him either and he suddenly had the urge to tidy up and open a window. He decided it would be best to tidy up once he had borrowed one of the professor's hazard suits.

Fry admired his new look a bit more and then noticed something else was wrong. He looked over to his alarm clock and realised he still had a little over an hour before he had to be at work. He smiled at himself. Today would be the first time ever he would make it to work early.

He put the lid back onto the now half used can of all purpose spray and put it neatly on his bedside cardboard box. He then opened his window and looked out over the freshly sun soaked cityscape of New New York and took a deep breath of fresh air.

"Maybe today is going to be a good day after all," he said to himself as he turned and left the apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

Nibbler stood outside the hall of many questions. He had made it to Eturnium in good time and was taking a moment to taste the sweet clean air.

"The Lollypop trees must be in full bloom." he said to himself as he took another lungfull.

He looked around admiring the bright colours of a nearby Rainbow bush. He noted how dull Earth was in comparison, even though Eturnium existing in a multi-dimensional space time continuum made it an unfair comparison.

The planets unique temporal state also meant that time on Eturnium was not quite the same as it was in the rest of the universe and, whilst on the planet, time tended to mind its own business and leave you alone.

As a result if this time deficiency no one ever needed to hurry which, after Nibbler's recent experience, suited him just fine.

Eventually and somewhat reluctantly Nibbler entered the great hall to find council members Fiona and Ken waiting for him.

"Welcome home lord Nibbler" Ken said whilst pulling down the hood on his cloak.

"Thank you" he said giving them a customary bow "have you received my reports?"

"We have, and have been aware of the strange consciousness for some time. We apologise for not informing you of it sooner, but we believe it is capable of intercepting our telepathic transmissions. Fortunately it would appear that the link you shared was one way, we do not believe it was able to gain any information from you."

Nibbler gave an inward sigh.

"What is it?" he asked feeling a little more sure himself.

Fiona stepped forward to answer him.

"We do not know but we have bigger problems."

"But before we continue, have you eaten?" Interrupted Ken.

"Not since I left Earth" Nibbler replied.

"Then may the feast of a thousand wildebeest begin."

A short time later they were all back in the great hall. Nibbler felt more at ease after his meal and found himself purring to aid digestion. In the back of his head though he couldn't help but worry. What could possibly be a bigger problem than what he sensed on the Earth?

"Fry is becoming normal" Fiona suddenly stated.

"What?" Nibbler said as he choked up a wildebeest rib cage.

"We have been keeping a close eye on the one called Fry and have made some startling observations. As you know Fry has been of great use to us due to his lack of delta brain waves which give him immunity to most forms of mind control."

Nibbler nodded in agreement. Brain slugs were one thing, but even the powerful Hypnotoad could only hold Frys attention for a short time.

"Around four thousand nibblets ago we noticed unusual behaviour from the Fry."

Ken pressed a button on a remote and a video screen appeared showing a recording of Fry entering a branch of the Big Apple bank.

"Here you can see Fry entering his local bank and changing the pin number on his ATM card." he said pointing a paw in the general direction of the screen.

He pressed the remote and continued.

"A few hundred nibblets later he operated an ATM machine and..." he paused and turned to Nibbler with a worried look.

"...successfully managed to withdraw a small sum of cash using the new pin number."

Nibbler began to feel his cuteness defences coming into effect. He steadied himself and stared at the view screen. He felt he should say something but completely failed to find his voice. The universe did not create such abnormalities without consequences, usual disastrous ones. Then Nibbler heard the words he had been hoping not too.

"There is more."

Nibbler watched a series of recordings in a state of shock and disbelief. All were remarkable by Fry's standards from putting the toilet seat down and using clean crockery to winning an argument with Bender and dressing himself in new clothes.

Nibbler was now convinced something big was going on in the universe and as usual it would revolve around Fry in some way.

"Do we know what is causing this change in behaviour?" he asked, his fear now giving way to pure curiosity.

A holographic display appeared in front of Nibbler showing what looked like a brain frequency scan.

"This is a frequency scan of Fry's brain. As you can see he is now emitting Delta brain waves. They are low but are gradually increasing. His other 'brain waves' appear to be unaffected although we assume the new brain waves are overpowering them."

"At this rate Fry will have normal delta wave levels in two earth days." concluded Ken.

Nibbler could only think of one question to ask. It was probably the most important question he could ask, the answer to which could help him save the universe.

"Why?"

Ken and Fiona looked at each other uncomfortably.

"We do not know but we suspect that Fry's increase in normal brain activity and the consciousness you touched are somehow linked.

Nibbler began to shake his nerves now completely shot. He had been worried when Bender had torn a hole in the universe, but at least he had known what to expect. If the Nibblonian race didn't know what was going on then chances were that no one in the history of creation would either.

His legs began to give way as he lost control to his cuteness reflexes.

"Get this Nibblonian something strong to drink" he heard Ken shout, "chocolate milk and make it a double."

It took a few double chocolate milks to get Nibbler back in control of himself. He felt ashamed to have lost control in such a manner but was assured he had handled it fairly well. As it turned out most of the original science team were currently in therapy and a few had even become chocoholics.

"I see no choice but to return Earth" he said getting some strength back in his voice.

"If something does happen fry will need my help more than ever."

"Very well lord Nibbler" said Ken handing him a brown bag.

"Here is a packed lunch for the journey and a small bottle of chocolate milk, just encase."


	4. Chapter 4

Fry smiled as he entered his new pin into the device the purple sales smog had put front of him. He seemed to recall something about women liking flowers so had taken a short detour to buy them for Leela with the assumption that the same would apply to women mutants.

As he continued his journey to work he found himself thinking about Leela as he often did although, he had to admit, a little clearer than usual.

Since he and Leela had declared their love for each other, shortly before being crushed by a million tons if spaceship, he had expected them to become closer. Instead they had drifted apart. It's not as if they hadn't gone out on several dates since the professor cooked them back up from stem cells, but something would always go wrong and mess things up. He had always assumed it would work out and now he was scared, and he had no doubt that Leela felt the same way. It all seemed so obvious to him now. How had he not seen it before?

As he approached the Planet Express building Fry began to feel better. He had made what he thought was a breakthrough in his relationship with Leela, without her actually being there and spelling anything out for him, but he couldn't shake the feeling he was losing her.

"Here goes," he said to himself as he walked through the hanger entrance.

"Sorry we're closed," a voice said somewhere in front of him.

As his eyes adjusted to the low lighting around the ship he noticed Amy on a hover platform holding a weld-o-matic gun.

"If you come back later we..."

She removed her welding mask and realised for the first time who had actually come in.

Fry? You look great," she said with a slight erotic and all too familiar tone to her voice.

"Thanks, so do you."

Amy looked down at herself to check she had actually remembered to put her pink sweat suit on this morning. It took her a moment to realise Fry was simply returning the compliment to be polite.

Fry watched as she lowered the platform and walked slowly and seductively towards him. He didn't know what she would do when she got to him, but he had no doubt it would be something that Kiff would not approve of. In a desperate attempt to prevent a confrontation with an alien with no bones Fry raised the flowers he was holding in front if him.

"Have you seen Leela?" he said quickly, indicating the flowers so that Amy wouldn't get the wrong idea.

Amy got the message and backed down with a slight look of relief. Fry knew that she had problems controlling her libido but had never expected to have to protect her from himself.

"She's not in yet, she must be running really late if you've got here before her."

"Actually I'm early"

"Sure you are," she said with a chuckle and headed back to the hover platform.

"Maybe I'll get the ship ready to launch for her," he said as he put the flowers down and took off his jacket.

"Without Leela here to keep an eye on you? It's your funeral."

Fry ignored her comment and set to work. Leela had shown him a hundred times how to set the ship up before missions but he never got very far, it all became too confusing and he would give up.

He thought he'd start with cleaning out the reactor as that was the easiest thing to do. He then filled the fuel tank with dark matter from Nibbler's litter tray and before he knew it he had set up the launch controls, cleared the cargo deck of owl droppings and changed the empty air freshener on the bridge. The ship was now ready to go wherever the professor was likely to send them, returning was another matter.

A small satisfied smile spread across Fry's face as he realized he had finished with the essentials and could spend the rest of the morning taking it easy washing the ship. He was finishing off doing just that when Leela walked into the hanger carrying a large ham.

"Hay Leela," he said as he dried off the last wet patch on the ship.

"Hay Fry, have you seen Nibbler? He wasn't in his bed when I woke up this morning."

Fry could see that Leela was upset. She often was when Nibbler went AWOL although he could never figure out why. Sure he was cute and kept her company but...

"No sorry, I haven't. He's probably just gone on a secret mission or something. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"Yeah I suppose you're right," she said as she looked down at the ham she was cradling in her arms.

Fry looked into her eye. He hated to see Leela sad.

"Maybe these will cheer you up," he said picking up the flowers and handing them to her.

"Sorry their a little squashed. I had to hide them under my jacket away from Dr. Zoidberg. You know how he likes to eat flowers and stuff."

Leela put the ham down and took the flowers. She gave them a sniff and smiled.

"Oh Fry, they're beautiful thank you."

Fry smiled back but he could still see sadness in Leela's eye. Usually he couldn't tell what she was feeling at all, he would just take her statements at face value. Today, however, he could read her like a book, which for some reason he also felt like doing.

"Sorry I'm late by the way, I lost track of time looking for Nibbler."

"You're not that late. I got here early and got the ship ready."

Leela kissed Fry on the cheek.

"Sure you did," she said.

Before he could say anything else the building shook with a violent scream.

"What was that?" asked Fry removing his hands from his ears.

"Midday conference call," replied Leela. "Wow, I guess you did get here early."

No one seemed to notice Fry when he sat down at the conference table with Leela. Bender had no doubt known Fry was on his way due to the array of 'super robotic' sensors he possessed and constantly bragged about, but had decided to ignore him and count a wad of cash instead. Fry felt a little annoyed at this but, was even more so when he realise Bender was wearing an 'I gave blood' sticker on his chest plate. He decided to play Bender at his own game and ignore him.

Also at the table was Amy. She was sitting to one side painting her toenails pink and seemed blissfully unaware of anything else, yet alone Fry's arrival.

The professor was fast asleep in his chair as usual.

Hermes and Zoidberg were standing by their seats arguing.

"There's no way a bottle of beer got past Bender mon, especially not a full one. You must have dreamed it you stupid crab."

"I don't care what you say Hermes it was a feast I tell you. A feast!"

Hermes shook his head and sat down.

"Ok, who had Fry to arrive four hours late yesterday?" he said looking around the table. Amy suddenly drew her attention away from her nails and raised her hand.

"Me, I did," she said eagerly.

Hermes handed her an envelope which she shoved in her pocket before continuing with her nails.

"For today's pool we'll see how long it takes Fry too...," he stopped as he realised Fry was in fact sat at the table.

"Fry mon!" he looked at his watch and clearly not satisfied with what it told him began to tap it.

"It must be broken," he murmured to himself.

"Actually I got here early this morning."

Hermes turned to him and removed his watch.

"Sure you did," he said as he threw the watch in the nearest bin. "I suppose you also cleaned the ship and got her ready for launch as well?"

"Sure did," he said feeling proud of himself.

Hermes tried but failed to keep a straight face.

"Fry mon, you really know how to crack a guy up."

Fry crossed his arms in annoyance.

"Don't be upset Fry," said Leela in a soft tone reserved for sparing his feelings. "I'm sure you did a great job on the ship. Why don't I just go and inspect her and then we can get on with whatever mission the professor has planned for us. Who knows, we might even make a delivery today."

A short time later she returned wearing a blank face and holding something behind her back.

"Everything check out ok?" Fry asked smugly. The next thing he knew he was on the conference table, with Leela on top of him pointing a Death-o-matic pistol in his face.


	5. Chapter 5

Nibbler was not sure what to expect when he crashed his ship through the window of the Planet Express conference room. He had been watching a live feed of Fry on his ship and didn't like the situation one little bit.

The plan had been to cause enough of a distraction to get Leela away from Fry before she hurt him. As it turned out everyone except Leela (and the professor who remained fast asleep) jumped out the way of the falling glass.

Nibbler leapt out of the wreckage of what was once his favourite ship landing inches away from Fry's head.

"Stop," he said putting his paws in the line of fire.

"Nibbler poopsidoodle mummy has a ham for you, but first she has to kick this impostor's ass for a while until he tells us where Fry is."

Fry had to admit that under different circumstances he would have been delighted to have Leela on top of him but the laser pistol made the whole thing a little less exciting and a whole lot more terrifying.

"Leela, What are you doing? I am Fry."

"No you're not," she said punching him in the gut. "Fry doesn't know how to set up the ship, he doesn't bring me flowers without making a big deal out of it, and he definitely doesn't know I have feelings."

Nibbler could see tears in her eye but she clearly had all her energy focused on the gun and the man she thought was an impostor. Everyone else had recovered from his failed diversion but were to stupefied to take any action.

"Where is my Fry?" she screamed gripping the pistol tighter and adjusting her aim.

"I am Fry, I'll prove it."

He tried to ignore the gun and concentrated.

"Ok, I can't think of any way to prove it but remember when we were on the Titanic staring at that nebula? That was the first time we nearly kissed purely because you wanted to. That was one of the happiest days of my life."

Leela's hands began to shake.

"That doesn't prove anything, you could have tortured Fry and gotten that information from him."

Fry began to feel strange, his heart began to pound and he found himself breathing deeper.

"Is it so hard for you to believe I can better myself Leela?" He snatched the gun leaving her completely shocked and surprised.

"I can't explain why I've been acting the way I have but what about you? Instead of believing I can change and better myself, you assume I'm an imposter!"

Fry had by now realised what he was feeling was anger, real anger, not like the little annoyances he'd suffered in the past but an intense emotion he wasn't used to and didn't care for at all.

Nobody in the room said anything. Even Nibbler couldn't find the right words for the moment and everyone seemed fixed to the spot.

Leela turned her head, trying but failing to hide her tears.

"Maybe I don't want you to change. Maybe I'm scared that if you change, you'll stop loving me."

Fry felt his anger melt away as Leela turned to face him. He sat up and took her in his arms dropping the gun in the process.

"I will always love you Leela. No matter what happens," he whispered in her ear.

"Wow, that was exciting," said Bender lighting a cigar and ruining the moment, no doubt by design.

Leela pulled away from Fry slightly.

"Sorry about punching you Fry, and holding a gun to you and..."

"That's ok," interrupted Fry. "You can make it up to me."

"How?"

"Well, you can either stay on top of me, or let me take you out for dinner tonight" he said with a huge grin on his face.

Leela blushed as she got off Fry and helped him to his feet.

"Dinner sounds nice," she said keeping a hold of his hand.

Nibbler cleared his throat loudly, annoyed that everyone had forgotten he was there despite having destroyed half the room.

"Perhaps you would like to know what is really going on?" he said walking to the wreckage if his ship and pulling out a small, fury pink cube.

He put the cube on the conference table and squeezed it. A holographic brain appeared with a series of complex mathematical equations floating round it. He squeezed the cube again and the hologram disappeared.

"How about I give you the short version? Fry's brain is producing delta brain waves which are increasing his brain power. The delta waves have not quite reached maximum but when they do..." He stopped and tried to find the right words. "Something bad will happen, we don't know what."

"How long before that happens?" asked Leela taking a tighter hold of Fry's hand.

"Sometime in the next eighteen hours."

Bender picked Nibbler up by his cape.

"How do we know this little fur ball knows what he's talking about?"

Nibbler wriggled free and hid behind Leela holding tightly onto her leg.

"Give him here," continued Bender "I'll bend the truth out of him."

Fry stepped between them and handed Bender a card.

"Why don't you go get us some lunch Bender? On me, the pin is three, seven, three, seven."

"Lunch? Yeah sure, I'll erm, be back soon. With lunch," he said taking the card and backing out of the room, all else forgotten.

"Are you sure that was a good idea Fry?" asked Leela once she was sure Bender was out of earshot. "You do know he's going to bleed you dry?"

Fry shuddered at the thought. "He's not going to have much luck doing it with my library card," he said and turned to Nibbler. "He's got a point though, maybe I should have Dr. Zoidberg check me out."

The room filled with laughter almost instantly.

"No, but really. Maybe we should wake the professor," he said wiping a tear from his eye.

He walked to the professor and nudged him a few times with no effect. He sighed and wondered why it was that the professor was only difficult to wake up when he was needed. Fry cleared his through and proclaimed in a loud voice: "good news everyone."

The professor woke up with a jolt and slammed his fist on the conference table, spilling a cup of coffee over himself in the process.

"I'll be the judge of that," he said in an angry tone. "To the science room."

"You mean the lab?"

"Yes, the science room."


	6. Chapter 6

Across the street from planet express a small creature crawls out from a small crack in a manhole cover. It flies up into the air and comes to rest on a nearby wall.

"What's happened to me," it screams as it looks itself over.

"Oh dude! You didn't go down to the sewer did you?"

The creature followed the voice until he saw a fellow fly landing a short distance in front of him.

"I was stunned by something. Next thing I knew I was climbing out of some green stuff, struggling for my life. It took me hours to find a way back out."

"Oh dude! You mutant now.

"Mutant?"

"Yeah dude mutant. Happens when you touch that green stuff.

"How do you know?"

"Happened to a bro of mine man. Came out of there all twisted like, like you."

"Was he ok?"

"Nah man, started going crazy. Got these new teeth things ya see. You got 'em too. Anyway, he start biting the big dudes and they start going all crazy and biting big dudes, and they go crazy and start biting big dudes, you know what I mean?"

"You mean they turned into zombies?"

"Zombies? Sounds like a big dude word to me dude, but it'll do."

"What happened to them all?"

"Some other big dudes came, DOOP I think the big dude word for 'em, they came set the place on fire. Killed 'em all man."

"And your bro?"

"Got eaten by an owl dude. Big teeth no good in the belly of an owl."

"I know what it's like to lose family. My mother was killed by a hu..., big dude. Picked her up with shiny metal thing and dipped her into some liquid in a glass tube thing. She disintegrated right in front of my eyes."

"Dude, that messed up."

"Yes, but now I can get my revenge. I'll bite him and watch as he bites the ones he loves. Then I'll have the pleasure of watching them all burn to ash."

"You're going crazy dude, but I sure ain't gonna try and stop ya. How you gonna find the dude anyways? They all look the same to me?"

"Oh I'll never forget his wrinkled old face with those big glass round things over his eyes. I'm not that far away from him now in fact. He lives in that building over there, the one the big green thing flies out of sometimes. I'll kill him good."

"Well good luck with that dude. I'm getting out of here before the party starts."

The mutant fly inspected itself over one more time and confident of his ability to fly set to the air.

It didn't take him long to find the human he searched for, he was in the same room his mother was murdered on that fateful day. Some of the other humans were in the room too, the situation could not be more perfect.

He set his aim for the human's neck and leapt into the air as fast as his wings could carry him.

"Revenge is mine."


	7. Chapter 7

"Hmmm, let me see now. Ah yes, a little of this and maybe a little that. I'll just add some more of this and it's almost done."

Fry had been watching the professor mix potions for over an hour and was becoming restless. None of his usual time wasting activities seemed to appeal to him anymore, not even his favourite game of dodge brick. Fortunately Leela and Nibbler had stayed with him long after everyone else had lost interest and found something else to do.

"How's that potion going to tell us what's wrong with me professor?" he asked hopping the wait was over.

The professor turned and picked a big fly that was heading for him clean out of the air with a pair of tweezers, and dropped it into the potion. Fry was in awe at how fast the old man could move when it suited him.

"It's not. It's to get rid of this coffee stain on my lab coat," he said indicating the brown patch and pouring the potion over it.

Fry restrained Leela's arm as she pulled a fist and stepped toward the professor.

"Professor," he paused for a moment to select the right words.

"Can you test what's wrong with me?"

"I'm a professor, I can test anything with anything," he said taking a device out of a draw and waving it in Fry's face.

"Sweet zombie Jesus!"

Fry braced himself for the worst.

"The gizmometer shows you as being almost completely normal, remarkable."

"Normal for Fry, or normal for everyone else in the universe?" asked Leela.

"Both, it would appear that there's a party in Fry's brain and every brainwave is invited."

"Yes, but do you know what the cause is?" asked Nibbler hoping that somehow this mad scientist would be able to tell him something that no one on Eturnium could.

The professor scratched his head and pulled another device out of a draw.

"I suppose we could see how dangerous Fry's new brain power is with the Doomometer."

He turned the device on only for it to explode a second later making everyone duck for cover.

"What happened?" asked Leela after the smoke cleared.

The professor stood up and inspected what was left of the device.

"The Doomometer overloaded. It would seem that we are all well and truly doomed."

"Is there anything else we could try?" asked Nibbler, now desperate for any extra information.

"There is one thing," said the professor, raising their hopes. "But I sent the guillotine away for sterilization. Those damn monkeys make an awful mess."

Leela rolled her eye.

"So what do we do now?" she asked no one in particular.

"Wait," replied Nibbler.

"Get ready for our date tonight," replied Fry.

Fry noticed the look Leela was now giving him.

"Oh yeah, I suppose you want to spend time with your parents or something?" he said trying to hide his disappointment.

"Actually, I think I'll just talk to them on the phone for a while. I don't want to worry them. Besides, if the universe is doomed I want to spend as much time as I can with you."

Fry's smile spread so far across his face that it would have met on the other side of his head if it could have.

"Why don't you phone your parents now and meet me at my apartment? The door number is 0100100, I have a few things I have to deal with myself before then."

Fry turned to leave the room wondering if Leela had read too much into what he had just said. Inviting her to his place when the universe is doomed was kind of suggestive. He turned to clarify what he meant, but when he looked at Leela's expression it knocked the wind out of him. It was clear that she had misunderstood him, but the look he got from her was not one of disgust but one of desire.

Fry quickly left the lab before all his blood could rush to his head. He turned hot, then numb, then he started to tingle, and then finally was sick outside Dr. Zoidberg's office. He took a moment to steady himself and then cursed himself. He could handle becoming normal and he could handle the unknown danger they all faced, but he couldn't handle his feelings for Leela. It seemed to him that the more his mind cleared the stronger his feelings became. He longed for her.

He pulled himself together and grabbed a mop and bucket from Scruffy's store room. When he returned to clean up his mess he found that someone had already done it. Fry considered the possibility that Dr. Zoidberg had dealt with it, but how he had cleaned it was a thought that he very much didn't want in his mind.

Before Fry left work he stopped off at Hermes' office to ask permission to borrow a hazard suite. Hermes was unsure at first but, once Fry told him that he would let the universe end before he let any harm come to company property he seemed more at ease and agreed.

On the way home he couldn't get the look Leela had given him out of his mind. He had dreamed of the day Leela would look at him like that and now that day had come, and it didn't feel right. He didn't want their first and possibly last night 'together' to be because the universe was doomed.

When he got home he put on the hazard suit and cleaned his apartment from top to bottom ensuring everything was sprayed with super disinfectant, even the stuff being thrown away. Throughout the task he racked his brain trying to think of a way to make his night with Leela special, but could come up with nothing new.

It turned out that in all the years he had been trying to woo Leela he had made just about every romantic gesture humanly imaginable, and even some not humanly imaginable with some help from Bender.

Fry heard the front door open.

"Talk of the devil," he said under his breath and prepared himself for whatever revenge Bender had planned.

"Bender, is that you?" he said knowing full well it was unlikely to be anyone else.

"Listen, about that card I gave you, I realised after you left that I gave you the wrong on," he lied.

Bender walked in dragging an entire bookcase full of books.

"That's ok" he said leaning on Fry and lighting a cigar.

"By the way, you withdrew a few books on roboerotic art," he added indicating the bookcase.

Fry looked at the mass of books in disbelief.

"How on earth did you manage to get out of a high security public library with that?"

Bender gave him a shrug.

"Through the window."

Fry shook his head and then grabbed Bender by his arms.

"Window!" he said ignoring the funny look he was mow getting from his best friend.

"Bender, how would you like to help me break into Leela's apartment?"

"No thanks. I've broken in before, she has nothing worth stealing."

"How about if I buy you a keg afterwards?"

Bender crossed his arms, obviously waiting for Fry to sweeten the deal a little more.

"And I'll give you some money to take to a strip club? I hear Hookerbot 5.0 just got an upgrade."

Benders eyes lit up blinding Fry in the process.

"Sorry about that," he said turning them off.

"You've got yourself a deal."

"Great! Get your tools and we'll get going."

"No need meatbag. Leela's security computer owes me a favour," he said winking at Fry.

Fry nodded and decided not to ask for details. As he followed Bender out the door it occurred to him that this was something he would have come up with before getting a normal brain. He smiled at the thought.


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you sure everything is alright Leela?"

"Sure mum, everything's fine," she lied for fifth time.

"It's just that you don't usually phone me from work unless something's wrong."

"Really mum everything's fine," she lied for the sixth time.

Leela did not enjoy lying to her mother. She had considered telling her what was going on but decided against it. It all sounded so absurd and what proof did they really have? She hoped that the business with Fry's brainwaves and the professor's doomometer was all nonsense, but she knew it wasn't. She knew just as well as Fry, Nibbler, and the professor that when something bad in the universe was going on, it would soon land on their doorstep.

"Ok Leela, you know I just worry about you sometimes. So does your father. We really do think it's about time you settled down and started a family."

Leela looked up at the ceiling, praying to every deity she could think of in the hope that her mother would change the subject. This was certainly not one of the things she would miss if the universe suddenly came to an end.

"You know your father still wants to set you up with that doctor friend of yours. If you like we could invite him round for a meal and..."

"Actually mum, I am seeing someone. Fry."

Leela watched as her mother held and twisted her tentacles in delight.

"Of course you are dear it was written all over your face the moment you called me."

Leela blushed.

"It was? Then what was all that about Zoidberg?"

"I was just fooling with you dear. That's what you get for not phoning your mother more often. So, how did it finally happen?"

"I err, punched him in the gut and called him an imposter whilst pointing a gun to his face."

Leela could see her mother's face change from one of pure delight to one of utter confusion.

"It's a long story," she sighed.

"But with a happy ending?"

"Yes mum, with a happy ending."

"And you do love him? That poor boy has been chasing you for a long, long time. I don't want to see you both get hurt."

Did she love him? She searched deep inside herself to be sure and found that she didn't have to search at all for the answer.

"I do love him. I think I always have."

Leela looked at the time on her wristamajig and looked back at her mother who had resumed looking delighted.

"I have to go now mum, I promised Fry I'd meet him at his apartment."

"Did you now?" she said making Leela blush even more. "Well call me again soon and let me know how things are going."

"I will mum."

Leela went to put down the receiver and quickly put it back towards her.

"I love you mum, and tell dad I love him when he gets home."

"I will sweetheart. Now go, you don't want to be late, you'll turn that poor boy into a nervous wreck."

Leela put down the receiver and shut off the view screen. She was the one who was a nervous wreck. She thought back to see if there was ever a time anyone had made her feel this vulnerable. There wasn't, probably because she never let them, but Fry had persisted for the best part of a decade. Sure he had done some pretty silly things over that time, but had she ever stopped to think of the things that weren't?

She grabbed her jacket out of her locker and left Planet Express. It briefly crossed her mind that she may never see it again but found that she didn't really care. Instead she counted all the times Fry had done something wonderful for her and all the times she had rejected him. Somehow Fry had managed to do more for her than she could reject.

Leela began to feel her blood boil she was so angry at herself. All she had ever wanted was a man who would love her for who and what she was, and he had been right beside her for nearl ten years. All that time telling him that they could never work because she was his captain or because it would ruin their friendship. She should have quit her job and taken the chance.

She began to walk faster and before she knew it she was in full sprint towards Fry's apartment. She began to cry uncontrollably, all those wasted years and now they had less than a day to be happy together.

Leela arrived at Fry's front door in an incredible time. She was aware of how hot and flustered she must look and had no doubt that her eye was bloodshot from crying. Add to that the fact that she was still wearing her work clothes, and her hair was all over the place and she was convinced she had never looked worse. It didn't matter though, she knew Fry wouldn't care and neither did she.

She knocked on his door and every second she waited for it to open felt like an eternity. When the door did open she paused just long enough to admire the new suit he was wearing before leaping into his arms and knocking them both to the floor in the process.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hay, meatbag! You owe me some winwangs."

Fry tried to respond to his friend but due to Leela's embrace was partly unable to, but mostly didn't want to.

"We had a deal remember?" he said prodding him with his foot cup.

Leela relinquished her hold on Fry, stood up, and turned to face Bender. For a split second she considered ripping off his leg and beating him to death with it. Instead, (and with no small amount of effort), she calmed herself down and helped Fry off the floor.

"Sorry about that," she said with a smile. "I don't know what came over me."

"I missed you too," he replied taking hold of her hands and staring into her eye.

Bender cleared his non-existent throat and put his hand in-between them, rubbing his fingers together.

"What is wrong with you?" said Fry reaching into his pocket and handing him some money.

"Whatever," Bender replied picking up his beer keg and placing it under his arm. "Don't wait up."

"Wait Bender! Before you go I need to tell you something.

Bender turned his head round one-hundred and eighty degrees.

"You're a great friend."

Bender seemed to freeze as he processed the information.

"Shut-up baby, I know it," he said heading for the door. "You love birds enjoy your date, or whatever you've been planning all afternoon."

Leela finally realised that she had misunderstood Fry's invitation to his apartment and choose to hide he embarrassment with sudden decisive action.

"Well I better go home and get changed before we go out," she said allowing herself an internal scream and heading for the door.

"There's no need," he said with a grin.

Leela turned and put her hands on her hips. "If you think I'm going out on a date dressed like this then..." She trailed of as Fry pulled a gift box out from under his bed and presented it to her. It was beautifully wrapped and she had no doubt that whatever was inside was expensive, but did Fry really know how to by clothes for a woman? Did any man?

"Fry, that's very sweet but...," she paused trying to find the right words to spare his feelings.

Fry didn't let her finish. He placed the box in her arms and directed her to the bathroom.

"Just try them on," he said closing the door behind her.

Leela carefully opened the box and looked at the contents. On top was a pair of black formal gloves that would easily go over her enormous forearms, just the way she liked them. Underneath was what looked like a satin black dress.

She picked it up and held it in front of her. She stared at herself in the mirror, it was perfect. She changed into it and admired the way it seemed to follow her curves.

"Eat your heart out Amy," she said to herself. She definitely had to give Fry a ten out of ten for effort, even if he hadn't realised she would have to wear her boots with it.

She opened the bathroom door only to find Fry standing in front of her with a matching pair of heels in one hand, a beautiful hand bag in the other, and the cheesiest grin on his face she had ever seen.

"I don't suppose you've got a hair stylist hidden in here somewhere do you?" she said giving him a kiss and taking them from him.

Fry reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a diamond encrusted scrunchy.

"I've wanted to give you this for a long time," he said placing it in her hand. "Sorry it's taken me so long."

Leela looked at it, her mouth hanging wide open. She pulled off her old one and carefully re-tied her hair with it. It was just like the one her parallel self had been given by her parallel Fry. She found herself completely lost for words, almost in a daze.

"I knew you'd like it somehow," Fry chuckled. "Now, we better get going, we've got a lot to fit in tonight."


	10. Chapter 10

Nibbler paced round the lava pit in the Planet Express basement. He had been drawn there, perhaps by his subconscious, or perhaps by the consciousness he had felt earlier. Whatever the reason he felt he was in the right place.

He had exhausted all other sources of information and was now alone with only one option to take; he would have to communicate with the consciousness.

He looked into the lava. The patterns that formed through the convection currents soothed him and he used them as a focal point as he slowly allowed his mind to expand and encompass the planet and everything on it.

As before everything seemed normal. Suddenly his being was ripped out of him and dragged, ripped through the fabric of the universe itself. When it stopped he knew he was no longer simply Nibbler anymore. He could 'see' his body lying in front of the lava pit motionless; it was now just an empty shell.

Around him he could feel the flow of the universe. Both space and time merged and rippled through existence touching everything before branching off to what seemed infinity. He let the flow take him and as he spread through the universal energy stream he could feel himself become a greater part of it and less of himself.

Just when he thought he would lose himself to it completely he was pulled violently back. Then with a sudden flash he opened his eyes and gasped for air as if it had been days since his last breath. He was back in his body.

Nibbler tried to get to his feet but failed. The universe was spinning around him, and what he had just experienced was fading from his mind fast. He closed is eye's and concentrated, trying desperately to hang onto the memory. The more he tried the faster the universe spin until, reluctantly, he let it go and he began to regain his balance.

Eventual he opened his eyes and stood up. As if he hadn't been through enough today, on the other side of the lava pit stood a ghostly image of Philip J Fry.

The image stared and smiled at him.

"Hi," it said sounding just like Fry.

Nibbler closed his eyes hard and opened them again. The image was still there.

"Fry?" Nibbler asked cautiously.

"Kinda," it replied.

"What do you mean 'kinda'?

"Part of me is Fry, I'm like a copy. It's easier to communicate with you this way."

"So you are the consciousness I seek? What have you done with the real Fry?"

"Don't worry about me Nibbler. I don't even know this is happening. Right now I'm having dinner with Leela, looking over the rings of Saturn. It's beautiful, but I told Leela she's more beautiful."

"Good call," said Nibbler, forgetting for a moment what he was talking to. He quickly changed the subject.

"Why are you using Fry, are you responsible for the increase in delta wave activity in his brain?"

"Not directly, it's a side effect of the machine."

"Of what?"

"The machine that's going to destroy the universe. But like I said don't worry about me, I don't really have anything to do with all this."

Nibbler found himself wishing he'd bought the bottle of chocolate milk with him instead if leaving it on the wreckage that was once his ship.

"Fry, I mean, image if Fry or whatever. Can you please tell me what the hell is going on?"

The image of Fry shrugged.

"I can tell you what it will let me. Do you know what it was like before the big bang, before this universe started?"

Nibbler was a little taken back.

"Very little, my race was only six years old when it happened."

"But you have legends or stories of what it was like?"

"A few. They all describe it as peaceful and organised."

"What else?"

"That a powerful entity made it that way."

Nibbler began to feel extremely nervous. He didn't like where this was heading.

"Do you know what happened to that entity Nibbler?"

Nibbler shook his head finding himself unable to speak.

"It got trapped in the chaos of this universe. You've experienced it yourself; it let you feel what it was like to have your soul diluted by it."

For a dizzying moment Nibbler felt what it was like again, an echo of his journey through time and space. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

"What has this got to do with a machine destroying the universe?"

The image of Fry stood still and seemed distracted by some unknown force.

"Fry?" Nibbler said hoping to learn more from this bizarre encounter.

"Hmm, sorry, my steak just arrived. Smells good. What where you saying?"

"What has the entity and the machine got to do with the end if the universe?"

"Oh, right. Well the entity has no body, it's kind of just energy. Over the past billion odd years it's learnt how to manipulate matter at a subatomic level and has used that ability to construct a machine that will... Oh wow they do pancakes for desert."

"Fry!" Nibbler screamed.

"Sorry, a machine that will absorb all the delta brainwave energy in the universe and use it to, let's see if I get this right; create a quantum subspace dampening field that will break down the building blocks of existence and allow the entity to escape. Err, apparently this will destroy the universe in the process."

"Sounds about right," said Nibbler fighting the urge to eat himself out of the universe quick. "So... Where is the machine and how do we stop it?"

"The machine isn't exactly in one location, I suppose you could say it occupies multiple points in space at the same time."

Nibbler understood what Fry meant. His own home world did the exact opposite, it occupied one point in space across multiple points in time.

He tried to think of one of the likely locations he could find the machine.

"One of those points is Earth isn't it?"

"Yes, it's in the centre of the Earth to be exact. I thought that was pretty obvious.

"All right, how do we stop it?"

The image of Fry smiled in a way that sent shivers down Nibbler's fur.

"It can't be stopped, if I were you I'd go home. Your world should be protected by its temporal displacement field."

Nibbler reminded himself what he was talking to. If there was a way to stop the entity and/or the machine, this Fry wasn't likely to tell him.

"Sorry Nibbler it's time for me to go."

"Wait, I have one more question."

"Ok, but make it quick."

"Why are you, I mean why is the entity letting you tell me all this?"

The image if Fry seemed lost in thought for moment.

"It wants you to know it's nothing personal, but it was here first," it said and promptly vanished.

Nibbler was alone once again. The whole thing felt like a bad dream but he was now sure of two things. The end of the universe could be stopped, and Fry was the key.

He cleared his mind and reset his internal clock. He was running out if time and he needed to get everyone back to Planet Express quickly. He gathered as much mental energy as he could spare and sent a telepathic shock wave through the solar system.

Hopefully they would all get the message.


End file.
